BLOOMINGTON – Jake Forrester already held an IU offer when Archie Miller arrived in Bloomington as coach this spring.

Not long after Miller finished constructing his coaching staff, IU assistant Bruiser Flint, whose ties to the Philadelphia area — where Forrester plays for Westtown School — reach back decades, called to let Forrester know that offer still stood. From there, everything just kept accelerating.

“Bruiser Flint was really a huge part of this. Bru is from Philly and is a huge friend of mine,” said Seth Berger, Forrester’s coach at Westtown, one of the most prominent prep schools in the country. “Once Bruiser got involved, things moved really quickly.”

Forrester, a three-star stretch forward who Berger said could eventually guard four positions in college, committed to Indiana on Monday night, one day after the end of his official visit to Bloomington. Forrester had already taken a visit to Seton Hall, and planned further visits to Pitt, Xavier and Virginia Tech, but after his trip to IU, he called time on his recruitment.

“Jake had a great visit, loved coach Miller, loved the campus,” Berger said.

Three of Indiana’s four commitments in 2018 — Miller’s first full recruiting cycle at IU — are listed as forwards, though they each fit distinct profiles. Pickerington (Ohio) North’s Jerome Hunter is a versatile scoring wing, with the ability to knock down outside shots and attack defenders on the bounce. South Bend Riley’s Damezi Anderson, listed at 6-6, is a hot-hand shooter and one of the state’s best scorers.

And Forrester, who Berger said is 6-9 and pushing 6-10, is a versatile, rebound-minded forward with a nose for the glass at both ends and the ability to step behind the arc when the situation calls for it.

“He’s got a combination of great feet and great hands that is really rare for a kid who is almost 6-10,” Berger said. “He plays really hard, he runs the floor extremely well, he rebounds really well, he catches lobs really well and he makes 3s really well.”

Elite competition won’t be anything new for Forrester. Having arrived at Westtown before last season, he has played alongside several fellow high-major prospects, including current Texas Longhorn Mohamed Bamba, current Arizona Wildcat Brandon Randolph and future Duke Blue Devil Cam Reddish.

That experience, Berger said, has allowed Forrester to focus on his best skills, and to learn how he can regularly impact the fortunes of a team filled with the kind of talent he’ll find at the college level. Berger cited a Kevin McHale quote, that with the exception of the 4-5 best players in the world, all basketball players are specialists in their own right, and must learn how to excel at what they do best.

“It helps kids to identify what they do really well right away,” Berger said. “Where that’s unique is, if (Forrester) were playing for a different high school, it might be, ‘We need you to get 25 (points), 15 (rebounds) and eight (assists).’

“On Westtown’s team, he was a 10 and 10 guy. You don’t find a lot of kids who score 10 points (per game) going to play for Indiana, but he said, ‘On this team, here’s what I need to do really well.’”

Berger said he sees his versatile forward continuing to expand his defensive abilities, and becoming more dangerous with the ball in his hands, using his dribble when opponents step out to deny him at the 3-point line.

When Forrester arrived at Westtown last year, according to Berger, he held two Division I offers: Stony Brook and North Florida. He’ll leave after this season as an Indiana signee, and his coach isn’t putting limits on his potential from there.

“I think Jake certainly has an opportunity to make money playing basketball. He’s significantly better today than he was a year ago, and I’d expect he’ll be significantly better next year,” Berger said. “With coach Miller’s coaching and that staff’s ability to help their players improve, Jake’s got an opportunity to play in the NBA.”